


Las Posadas

by mmouse15



Category: Transformers Generation One
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-20
Updated: 2010-12-20
Packaged: 2019-02-02 14:26:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12728340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mmouse15/pseuds/mmouse15
Summary: Jazz and Prowl continue to learn about cultural differences in Christmas celebrations.





	Las Posadas

**Author's Note:**

> Summary/Notes: I grew up in a small town where the Hispanic population was 90%. I also grew up Catholic, and posadas were a huge part of the Christmas celebrations. We started the posada at the elementary school, and we ended up, nine days later, at the church which was one block away from the school! In the in-between nights, the posada meandered through town, stopping at certain houses where the nativity scene was populated by the people of the house. Only when we got to a house that had no-one in the nativity did we get shelter for the night. We did not have a piñata every evening, instead we got a huge one on the last night, but I've been to celebrations where they do have a piñata every evening of the posada, so that's what I used for this story.

Title: Las Posada  
By: mmouse15  
Day: 20  
Prompt: "Explain to me again why are we breaking this...piñata?"  
Verse: G1  
Rating: PG  
Words: 860  
Other Characters: an OC. I promise he's a non-intrusive human.  
Warnings: none

 

After spending the night curled around each other in their clearing, Jazz and Prowl continued on their journey to Mexico City. They were still lazy about it, exploring anything that caught their fancy and simply enjoying being with the other. They made Acapulco in the early afternoon and spent a few hours lazing through the town. Jazz was awed by the cliff divers, marveling at the skill to take such a long dive and slice through the water safely.

They got on the highway to Mexico City, but soon got off, preferring to take a more meandering route back to the capital. As dusk fell, they found themselves in a small village, but the road was blocked. Frustrated, Jazz transformed so he could stand up and see what was going on.

"Prowl, c'mon up here," he said after a few seconds of scanning.

Prowl did so, the turned to Jazz. "What are they doing?"

Jazz was bouncing on his tiptoes. "It's gotta be Las Posadas!" His optics flickered, which Prowl had come to recognize as Jazz rapidly shifting through the internet. "Yup, that's what it is."

Prowl could have accessed the internet himself, but instead looked to Jazz for an explanation.

Jazz was more than happy to oblige. "OK, this is a Christian, no, a Catholic story. I've told you the legend of the birth of their savior, the guy that sacrificed himself to wipe clean the sins of all humans, right?"

"Yes," Prowl agreed.

"So this kid was born in a stable, and the story is that his parents had to go to be counted for a census, and they had to go to the hometown of the male line, which was a little village named Bethlehem. So Mary, that's the mom, and Joseph set off to be counted, even though Mary's ready to pop a youngling out, they've got to go. Well, lots of people are in Bethlehem to be counted, and every place is full – hotels, houses, everything. So they get refused until at one inn, the innkeeper says they can stay in the stable with the animals. So that's where the baby was born." Jazz was using his hands for emphasis as he told the story, and Prowl was smiling at his enthusiasm.

"So, anyway, Las Posadas is a recreation of that journey to find a place to stay. They do this for nine days, and they go around to various houses each night until they find one that they can stay at for that night, where they say prayers and then have a party with traditional foods and a piñata for the kids. Then the next night, they start their journey again and this repeats until Christmas Eve, when they find shelter at the local church and there's a big party and after the party, everyone stays for the midnight church service."

"Nine days of partying?" Prowl asked.

"More like nine days of family time and neighborly connections," came a voice down by their feet.

Startled, they looked down. The local priest, easy to recognize by the stole around his shoulders, was standing there.

He bowed. "My name is Father Miguel, and we would like to invite you to our posada."

Jazz and Prowl were delighted to accept his invitation, carefully moving around the barrier and joining the village in their celebration.

Prowl asked Father Miguel, "What is that?" as he pointed to a display in the front yard of the home the party was centered upon.

"That is a nacimiento, a Nativity scene. When the posada arrives at the designated home, the carried statues of Joseph, Mary, and the donkey will spend the night at this nacimiento before continuing their journey tomorrow evening." Father Miguel told him.

Prowl thanked him, then watched the festival with delighted optics. He laughed as the children tried to hit the piñata, the adults expertly pulling the rope so that the children sometimes connected but often did not, until the youngest child, with a little help from his father, was allowed to really hit the piñata and break it, shrieks of glee signaling the successful hit. There was a scramble for the goodies that spilled from it, but all the children were happy as the older children shared their gathered spoils with their younger siblings.

Prowl looked for the priest, but he was in the midst of the festivities, so instead Prowl looked to Jazz. "Jazz? Why do they break a…pintyata?"

Jazz kept his mirth to a small quirk of his lips. "It's piñata, Prowl. Say it, pin-yaa-taa. Supposedly, it represents the seven deadly sins, and breaking it and releasing the goodies inside means you defeated the sins and made it to heaven. This is just a little piñata. The final posada will have a huge piñata."

"Interesting," Prowl said quietly.

They stayed until the party broke up, then thanked the priest and sought shelter for the night in the village. The priest happily offered them a place to park in their alt forms in his yard, and they drifted into recharge, happily close to each other and basking in the culture they'd happened to find on their travels.

The End.

End notes: Please, I mean no offense to anyone's religious beliefs. I tried to tell the story of Jesus as if I were a giant robot from outer space that has run into many creation myths in his time and this one is just one more to add to his database.


End file.
